Spirent Accelerates Innovation in the Cloud with REST APIs

Sunnyvale, Calif. – November 4, 2014 – Spirent Communications today announced the general availability of REST API for Spirent TestCenter. The introduction of a REST interface marks an industry first for Layer 2-3 test equipment, enhances the use of Spirent TestCenter in virtual environments, and delivers unprecedented flexibility for diverse automation environments.

The broader software industry has evolved to embrace more flexible and efficient technologies. Specifically, REST, or Representational State Transfer, has become the dominant architectural style in the software industry as applications migrate to cloud environments and mobile devices. From an automation perspective, REST APIs have also become the dominant model with more than 7,000 published APIs . REST APIs allow test equipment to easily be orchestrated with devices under test and other service components to rapidly deliver test solutions.

“The networking industry is rapidly moving towards REST APIs,” said Dr. Todd Law, vice president of the Network Test Automation Forum (NTAF) and product manager at Spirent Communications. “It’s natural that we should provide a REST API for Spirent TestCenter, the industry’s leading L2-3 test platform. It’s an excellent fit for our customers developing virtual solutions in the NFV and SDN spaces, and underpins our strategy to be flexible and fit into diverse customer test labs.”

“Customers who automate their test environments typically use Tcl or sometimes Perl to write scripts for their automation, but the basic paradigm hasn’t changed much over 15 years. Since REST is where developers are headed en masse, we are confident that the future of network test automation also lies with REST,” added Law.